An oil spill that contaminated a portion of the Red Run Drain in Warren and flowed under 14 Mile Road into Sterling Heights was contained early Friday afternoon.

The Sterling Heights and Warren fire departments placed absorbent booms at three locations in the drain and prevented it from spreading, Sterling Heights Fire Chief Chris Martin said.

Authorities believe between 20 to 50 gallons of oil entered the drain at an undetermined location in Warren and began to flow north.

A Sterling Heights resident noticed the oil north of 14 Mile Road on Thursday night and immediately called the Sterling Heights Water Department, Martin said.

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"The source could be a resident dumping some oil down the drain to easily dispose of it in the area of Masonic (Boulevard in Warren)," Martin said. "The oil spreads out when it hits water. It looks worse than it is."

Martin said officials still don't know if the spill was deliberate or accidental.

Martin said water employees put three absorbent booms in the area. He said the oil is absorbed by two pads and the other contains it. He said the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is supervising the cleanup.

"For the most part we saw very little oil coming out last (Thursday) night," Martin said. "The water that runs in the Red Run Drain comes from storm drains that start at Eight Mile (Road in Detroit) and run under two 14-foot culverts that go under 14 Mile and into the Red Run Drain."

The fire chief said the drain meets a branch that crosses 14 Mile between Van Dyke Avenue and Maple Lane, at the Maple Lane Golf Course.

Warren Fire Chief Wilburt McAdams agreed with Martin and said officials are trying to determine the source.

Anyone with information about the cause of the spill is asked to call the Sterling Heights or Warren fire departments or the MDEQ.

"We don't have any indication it was accidental or intentional. Any kind of release into the waterway is wrong," McAdams said.

"You can't release harmful substances into the waterway. We have had this occur before."

Fire officials were alerted at approximately 7:20 p.m. Thursday.

A sample tested at the Warren Waste Water Treatment Plant determined the substance is a petroleum-based product. A second sample has been sent to an EPA laboratory.

An EPA official was expected to arrive at the spill area Friday afternoon to assess the contamination.

McAdams said motor oil floats on water before it begins to break down.

"It creates a sheen that can contaminate a large area," he said.

The Red Run Drain flows from Oakland County into Macomb County at Dequindre Road near Chicago Road, east to 14 Mile near Hoover, then northeast through the southwestern corner of Sterling Heights before reaching the Clinton River, near Utica Road and Metro Parkway in Clinton Township.